Duran Duran is an extremely talented band. Had they not looked like a bunch of models they probably wouldn't have been quite as popular, but maybe people would've better noticed how skilled they were.
Oh, and the 80s were ripe for a lot of white British dudes playing some great bass. Mark King, Mick Karn, Tony Levin, etc. Lots of great stuff.

Corporations are psychopaths. If the government had handled this stuff itself, sure it would've also been bureaucratic and wasteful by nature, but wouldn't it also have been in their best interest to save money instead of burn it like madmen for profit?

I don't know if you guys remember my comment about gutterpunks that made Orcs threaten to slice my face with a razor blade (a really specific and weird street threat). Haha good times. Anyway, in my opinion, these people are basically just as worthless to society as they are, they've just decided to actually use their parents' money on rent in their posh bullshit apartments and lifestyles.